


The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair

by YouDontRememberTheSomme



Category: The Pacific - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Inspired by a Ray Bradbury story, M/M, sorta angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 10:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouDontRememberTheSomme/pseuds/YouDontRememberTheSomme
Summary: It made sense that they’d meet at a party - one Eugene Sledge trying to dodge a woman Sid had tried to set him up with and one Merriell Shelton looking like sin walking as he wandered through the ballroom like he owned the whole damn building.





	The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair

It made sense that they’d meet at a party - one Eugene Sledge trying to dodge a woman Sid had tried to set him up with and one Merriell Shelton looking like sin walking as he wandered through the ballroom like he owned the whole damn building. 

It seemed almost anticlimactic, the way the two ran into each other and spent a moment stepping in the same direction to try to get around the other before laughing. 

Snafu blinked at the redhead and grinned. “Laurel?” he softly teased. 

“Hardy?” Sledge immediately replied.

Snafu’s grin widened and he held out a hand. “Wanna get out of here?”

“I know where it was filmed,” Sledge blurted out. “The piano on the steps, it’s a couple miles from here.”

Snafu’s smile turned almost mischievous as he dragged Sledge outside and toward his car. 

“We’ll walk up the steps together,” he insisted, his voice all the persuasion Sledge needed. 

 

*

 

Snafu and Sledge gave each other an eager look as they ran up the steps, counting as they went. 

“Fifty eight!” Gene called into the night air. “Come on, Hardy, I’ll race you back down!”

Snafu turned on his heel, not bothering to wait for his redhead as he jumped to the bottom. “Hold on!” Snafu yelled over his shoulder. “Stay put!”

Sledge paused on the step, softly panting as he waved to Snafu. 

Snafu stared at him for a moment, taking a mental photograph - Sledge standing on the twenty third step, his auburn hair waving slightly in the night breeze. 

“Come down here,” Snafu called, holding a hand out. “Come on, Laurel.”

Sledge softly laughed and ran down, taking his hand and pausing. 

“You’re crying,” he whispered, staring back at him. “Snafu, you’re...”

Snafu smiled faintly and kissed his forehead, looking back at brown eyes that were almost as watery as his own. “We’re gonna know each other forever, Laurel.”

“Another fine mess you’ve got us in, Hardy,” Sledge whispered back. 

 

*

 

Their love affair was a sort of wildness - both happy with the secrecy of Snafu’s apartment and with the slyness of the way they carefully touched hands in public. 

They spent long evening together visiting the sites of films and eagerly quoting the lines back and forth, always smiling knowing smiles at each other. 

The two parted ways in the morning with wistful looks and met again in the evening with delighted smiles and neither would change a damned thing. 

 

*

 

Their first year was peaceful. Snafu worked as a mechanic and Sledge wrote for a travel agency, insisting that someday he’d write an actual novel.

“World War Two,” he always said. “Ack Ack’s told me all about it.”

Snafu humored his aspirations, admiring how devoted his sweetheart was to his dreams. 

One evening spent with his hands clawing at Snafu’s back as opposed to tapping on his typewriter, Sledge stared back at Snafu with oddly calm eyes. 

“Another fine mess you’ve got us in,” he murmured teasingly, dropping over the edge and into oblivion. 

 

*

 

The two had spent one particular evening tangled up in bed, Gene’s hands in Snafu’s curls. 

“Do you feel it?” Sledge whispered, making Snafu stir. 

“Feel what?” the older one asked, half asleep. 

“Goodbye,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss him. “Run away with me.”

“Gene...”

“Shut up a minute,” Sledge insisted, kissing him more. “Please? I know you hate your job and I know you don’t wanna stay here.”

Snafu reluctantly hummed an agreement, knowing where this was going. 

“Travel with me,” Sledge softly pleaded. “We can go to Paris.”

“Gene, what would people say?” Snafu asked in a low voice. 

“Marry me,” Sledge blurted out, scrambling to sit up. “Marry me!”

Snafu’s soft laugh was almost cold. “With what pastor, Laurel? What church? Who’d come?”

“So don’t marry me,” Sledge shot back, pulling his shirt on. “But come with me!”

“Gene...”

“Please!”

“Gene, I’m not going!”

Sledge’s face dropped and he shook his head. “Please...?”

Snafu bit his lip, looking away. “I won’t,” he mumbled. “Gene, how long could we have lasted?”

Sledge softly laughed, a dry, bitter sound. “I’ll leave you flowers at the steps every year,” he whispered. “If... if you ever want to meet me there, I’ll be there every year. The same night as we met.”

Sledge reluctantly got dressed, feeling Snafu’s eyes on him. “Every year,” he softly promised, heading for the door. “God... Another fine mess you’ve got us in, Hardy.”

And with that, Sledge was gone. It took a moment, but Snafu followed, stepping out into the apartment building’s hallway, but just found emptiness. 

 

*

 

Five years passed before Snafu could manage to take himself to the steps. Just like Gene had promised, a little bouquet of flowers - red roses, Snafu had sadly noted - with a note attached. 

‘Dear Hardy,’ it read. ‘Couldn’t make it this year. Living in Paris like I’d said. Come visit me someday?’

It was another five before Snafu spotted him again. This time, it was while he was walking into a restaurant in Paris, his wife and daughters at his side. 

Sledge was walking out, a short brunet man at his side. 

They both paused a moment, exchanging smiles before being swept away by their partners. 

He caught a familiar voice call something at him, making his wife give him an odd look.

“Do you know him? He just called you Hardy,” Shayla softly asked. 

“No,” Snafu replied, glancing away. “Well, once.” Snafu glanced over his shoulder, finding Sledge smiling at him as he stepped into a car. 

‘Another fine mess you’ve got us in!’ Snafu mouthed, making the redhead laugh. 

“Dad? You’re crying,” Snafu’s daughter said, tugging his sleeve. 

“Your father cries at everything,” Shayla softly teased. 

“Not everything,” he murmured. “Just a hundred and fifty steps.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!!


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